In a sauce pan, sauté beef until almost done. Drain fat. Return to stove top and add spaghetti sauce, about ¼ of jar. Mix with beef and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix cottage cheese, spinach, egg, ½ bag of mozzarella and ¼ cup of parmesan cheese together.

In a casserole dish (9" x 9"), add a few spoonfuls of spaghetti sauce. Spread around to cover the bottom of the dish. Start to layer from bottom to the top: lasagna noodles, beef, lasagna noodles, spaghetti sauce to cover noodles, cottage cheese mixture, zucchini, onion rings, mushrooms, lasagna noodles, spaghetti sauce, the rest of the mozzarella cheese, tomato slices, and then the rest of the parmesan cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and back for 45 minutes. Uncover and back for an additional 10 minutes, so top cheese melts and browns. Let lasagna sit for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Over medium high, heat EVOO in a frying pan. Add meatballs and brown all sides so they are brown and crispy. Lower heat and cover until the meatballs are cooked all the way through and no longer pink in the middle. Don’t overcook otherwise they will be too dry.

Sauté zucchini and garlic with a little EVOO and salt until tender. Once rice is finished, add zucchini. In same pan, add spinach, sauté until wilted. Add to rice, and mix everything together.

Plate rice and meatballs together and sprinkle with feta cheese for a very tasty dinner!

Cook macaroni according to package directions. In a saucepan, under medium heat, add butter, flour s & p and whisk until smooth. Gradually add milk and whisk in until blended and thickened. Stir in all of Cheddar, Velveeta and ½ of Gruyere, stirring until cheese is melted. Drain macaroni. Add macaroni to sauce pan with cheese mixture and mix until pasta is covered with cheese.

Transfer macaroni to a greased casserole dish. Top with second half of Gruyere. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes until top is golden brown.

Grill sausages until cooked all the way through. Cut fruit for salad.

Served mac & cheese with sausages, sliced bread and a few cherry tomato halves. Serve fruit salad for dessert.

Heat some EVOO in a frying pan. Whisk eggs, cream, hot sauce, s & p until fluffy. Scramble eggs until they are barely runny. They will continue to cook in the hot pan and you don’t want to overcook them so they’re dry. Move eggs to the side and heat ham in the same pan until it’s warmed through.

Toast bread. Top with ham, eggs and cheese. Put back in toaster oven so cheese melts. Top with freshly cracked pepper. Plate sandwiches with a side of fruit. Serve with OJ and coffee.

Heat oven to 350 degrees for biscuits. Brush top of biscuits with egg for a nice, brown top. Bake for 13-15 minutes.

Heat EVOO in skillet over medium-high heat. Add potatoes and brown. When potatoes start become soft and translucent around the edges, about 15 minutes or so, turn down heat, add onion, bell pepper and garlic. Cover with lid and occasionally sauté until veggies get soft and potatoes are tender when poked with a fork. Sprinkle with herbs towards the end, right before veggies are done.

Heat EVOO in skillet over medium-high heat. Scramble eggs in a bowl, add salt, pepper, and a dash of Tabasco. Scramble eggs in skillet. Once eggs are almost done, mix in chives. Once everything is plated, top eggs with cheese.

Plate eggs, potatoes and a biscuit. Enjoy with a Bloody Mary or Mimosa!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Pasta salad
2 cups of rotini pasta
¼ of a green bell pepper, diced
3 green onion bunches, sliced
I small can of sliced black olives, drained
¼ cup of cheddar cheese, cubed
¼ cup of pepper Jack cheese, cubed
5+ cherry tomatoes halved or quartered depending on how big they are
1 small jar of quartered artichoke hearts, might want to cut them in half if they are large quarters, drained
Handful of parsley, chopped
2-3 Tbsp of pesto from a jar
EVOO
Juice from ½ lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Add chicken and BBQ sauce to a zip lock bag or bowl to marinate. Heat up grill.